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Thursday, 11 May 2017

My favourite things . . .

These are a few of my favourite things . . . maybe some of them are yours too!

Life Savers. When I was a child, I always wanted to get a book of life savers for Christmas. I think my favourite ones were always the Rum Butter ones, followed closely by the multi-coloured ones. Over here we get Polo Mints, which are nice, but they are only peppermint. They do come in sugar-free however, which is good for me. But . . . I have always had a fondness for the candy with a hole.

When I was a child having candy at all was a rare thing. Maybe as a rare treat, but other than that only at Birthday Parties, Christmas, Easter, Halloween and if we got some pocket money we might splurge on something sweet.

Sandwiches. I am like my Aunt Freda in that. I adore sandwiches. That is one thing which amazed me when I moved here to the UK, the wonderful variety of sandwiches and the fact that they are available in almost every shop, unless it is a jewelers, or card shop or something like that. But most newsagents, convenience shops, grocery shops, etc. sell ready made sandwiches. Marks and Spencers have the best. They never stint on the filling. They have unusual combinations here as well, like cheese and pickle or cheese and onion, cheese and tomato, etc. Very nice.

I like to keep my socks on until just when I get into bed and then take them off just at that point and slide my feet under the covers. It feels so good. I don't know why that is. It is just a thing that I like to do and I love the way my feet feel, freshly uncovered by socks and under cool sheets.

Spending time with a good friend. We had the most wonderful time yesterday with Val and Steve. It was so good to finally meet in person. Val and I have always felt a special kinship and we are always messaging back and forth and talking on the phone, e-mails etc. Yesterday was the first time we actually met in person and it was really special. I don't think we shut up the whole time. Todd and Steve took themselves off into town at one point to do some sight seeing. Val and I just stayed here at the house and gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. My knee is so bad I could not cope with sight seeing, but the guys did just fine. They are having a whirlwind tour of Ireland, Scotland and well, specifically here to see us.

Do we look happy? I think we do! It was so much fun.

Todd and Steve got along really well also. We just had a really, really nice time. It went past far too quickly. Time spent with a good friend is never wasted. We showed them where their son lived while he was on his mission here and we took them over to meet Doreen, who all the missionaries always love because she is so good to them. She seemed pleased about that as well and she remembered Kyle, their son.

God willing one day we will be

able to visit them in

Colorado.

Strawberry season which is about to begin in earnest here. I love strawberries, but only during their natural season, and I think British berries are some of the finest. Our plants are covered with flowers right now so we hope to get enough for a few feeds this year. I love strawberries fresh. Frozen ones are not the same. I picked a ton of strawberries when I was a child. My mother used to make jam and we would have our fill of them fresh. Strawberry pie, its so good! Fresh picked berries, still warm from the sun are just so delicious. When I was a child we used to be able to find wild strawberries along the rainway tracks that ran behind our first house in Gimli. They were very tiny, only about the size of a baby fingernail, but boy oh boy did they ever pack a lot of flavour. Delicious!

The enthusiasm with which this little lady greets everyone. We were all wishing we could tell waht she was saying yesterday. Sorry about the blankets on the sofa. Its a safety measure from dog hair, etc. I know, what is the point of having a sofa if you always keep it covered up. That bears thinking about, but the way we look at it, we are prolonging the life of our sofa. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Mitzie is my sofa companion and has been since the start. She loved Valerie and Steve.

Yes, my house is lived in. That too,

I wouldn't have any other

way.

I could not live in a show-room.

Beautiful sunny days. We have been surely blessed these past couple of weeks with some brilliantly sunny days. Yesterday it was almost warm as well. It is a bit chilly this morning and I could see my breath when I was out in the back just a few minutes ago, but it is still brilliantly sunny this morning and there is nary a cloud in the sky. Looks like another fine day in the offing. They are saying now if we don't get rain soon, we could be in drought conditions and hose pipe bans could be in effect in some areas. Feast and famine folks, feast and famine . . .

I just adore my husband. We get along like peas and carrots. We share an easy companionship which works so well for us. We just enjoy each others company so very much, which is a good thing because we have always spent most of our time together, most of the time even working together, which not a lot of married couples could do. We not only love each other, but we like each other. That is a huge plus. He is kind, gentle and pragmatic. He is the yin to my yang. While I might get flustered at times, he is the very epitome of calm, no matter the situation. I am praying so hard that the radio-therapy has done what it was supposed to do because I cannot face the alternative.

There . . . I said it out loud.

Robin Williams in anything. Even just in an interview. The man was a comic genius and a really nice person. When the world lost him, we lost a real treasure. I think the man was amazing. So much talent. His face just radiates kindness as well.

14 comments:

Good morning Marie, sorry I havnt been in for last two/three days, now that Mary is staying with me if I don't do it in the morning I never seem to get time...( she may be back in her own house in a couple of weeks, Lyn hopes everything will have come through with probate for Marjories daughters then they can accept the money from Lyn ) ....anyway enough excuses.. I note think,it was Tuesday that you are going to,Scotland in June, where are you going have you got a coach trip planned ?...then yesterday you were hoping to,see the Dr...did you ? And did he send you gor an X-ray ?....I. Glad your friend managed to visit during her trip,to.UK....you are doing well with visitors this year.....I presume there is no more news about Todd ?........I was up extra early this morning as I took the treasurer at church to the hospital to have a tooth out, he has a bad heart so ordinary dentist won't do it.He had to be in by 7.30 so I picked him up about 6.50 ....now I am waiting for Mary to,come through to have breakfast, then it will be up to church for the coffee morning .,,I stay till around 11 from about 9.15 there are other volunteers who will help as well....now I must go Mary just through xxxxx

Hi Sybil! We are supposed to go to Scotland mid June, the 16th. Looking forward to that, but hoping we can get my knee sorted before then. We are going via Coach, so Todd doesn't have to drive. We are going up to Oben, just a six day, five night thing, all inclusive, but I want to be able to walk! I am still waiting on an appointment to the DR. Hoping to get in today. I am just about crippled up with it. What is going on with Mary? What happened? xoxo

Thanks Linda, I have my fingers crossed I can get in to see the Doctor! xoxo

I still pray for you both. I pray that you have great news when Todd goes to the doctor. I also pray that you obtain some relief and soon. May your appointment can be asap. Today I bought my medicines for the next four weeks and some carry over...I nearly died. Nathan said I am sorry your list is expensive today. It was $133.60 and that is subsidised.

Oh well.

I used to love Lifesavers. Peppermint, the alternately bright red, green, yellows and orange ones and most of all the musk ones. I loved sucking them until they were so fine. Polos can be found here too. When I was young there was no air conditioning in shops so chocolate was a winter time treat. It was such a long wait.

I have started saving for another trip but my numbers so low that it will be a good while. The tip to Scotland sounds like an ideal break for you both.

I still give my children a gift of life savers every year for Christmas ! These days I'm more into the peppermint ones than the fruity flavors for myself. Glad you enjoyed the visit and made do even though you couldn't manage sight seeing. They did come to see you after all. Hoping and praying all goes well with your doctor appointment and you'll be right as rain soon. And speaking of rain, we've had more than our fair share so far this spring. Wish we could share with those not so fortunate.

I did get in to see a Doctor this morning, but she more or less said I was too fat and gave me some exercises to do and said that if it was still bothering me in another week or so to make an appointment with the Physiotherapist. I think if you are overweight at all these days, they seem to want to punish you. That's quite a drug bill Suzan, how awful! As I am over 60 now, all my medication is free, which is a good thing! xoxo

One other thing that I found out this morning is that I am anoemic again. So going off the Iron hasn't helped. They have put me back on it and we will check it in a couple of months, and if it is still low I will have to go through all that palaver of upper endocsopy and colonoscopy again. Please pray that I don't have to do that. I think I would rather die. They are just horrible.

Oh yes, rum and butter were a real favourite Linda! xoxo

I want so much to be able to go walking when we go to Scotland Monique! I won't be the same if I cannot! I am going to do the exercises, so I am going to remain positive and hope that it will get bettter. I have a little over a month to go. xoxo

I wish that we could share all of our abundance with those less fortunate than ourselves Pam! There is enough in this world for everyone, but it doesn't seem to be very well spread out does it! Thanks for your happy thoughts and prayers. xoxo

The drug bill plus my health insurance will see me very broke this fortnight. I will try very hard to not touch what I have saved as it is falling at an astonishing rate. My Gp is over 60 now and I have been seeing him for nearly forty years. He has lost the battle of the tummy and we lament with each other.

Do you think your doctor could give you a drug such as Mobic? It really helps me but I am only allowed it very rarely, If you can move more easily you are more likely to exercise. I have great sympathy at present as my left hip keeps me awake at night and makes the days difficult. Lots of love and God bless your sleeping.

I had forgotten about Life Savers. The fruit-flavoured ones were the only ones available when I was a kid, or at least the only ones we ever ate, as far as I can remember. But when I was older my favourites were the rum-butter ones too, and also Butterscotch ones.

We had so much fun with you and Todd! Mitzie Doodle dog still acts like a puppy and is adorable. I enjoyed walking her in the neighborhood. It was wonderful meeting you after all these years. Goodness!!! You guys must come to the states for a visit. Thank you for your hospitality. The sandwiches were very tasty and loved having something you made since I love your recipes and pictures you take of your food you make. Loved our gab session while the men went to explore. Steve had such a great time with Todd and loved you both very much. I can't believe that we're are back from our UK trip already. It was a whirlwind but we loved it all. Enjoy Scotland Marie! I loved it so much. Wonderful! Ireland too! Love you much my friend! xoxo Valerie xoxo

The only problem with your visit Val was that it wasn't near long enough! The day also passed far too quickly! I wish we could have spent more time together. That just means that I MUST make it to Colorado sometime! You gotta have a dream to make a dream come true! Love you! xoxo